Title: degenerative-transfer polymerization
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - degenerative-transfer polymerization
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.08909
Status: current

Definition
Reversible-deactivation polymerization in which the deactivation of the active species involves degenerative chain transfer.

Note
This term has often been specifically associated with degenerative chain-transfer radical polymerization. However, there are also degenerative chain-transfer processes involving non-radical mechanisms (e.g., cationic, anionic, or coordination polymerization).

Related Terms
- Reversible-deactivation polymerization: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/08912
- coordination polymerization: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/08995
- degenerative chain transfer: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/08951
- degenerative chain-transfer radical polymerization: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/08929

Source
- PAC, 2022, 94, 1093. 'Terminology for chain polymerization (IUPAC Recommendations 2021)' on page 1100 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2020-1211)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/08909/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/08909/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/08909/xml

Citation: Citation: 'degenerative-transfer polymerization' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.08909
License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms.
Collection: If you are interested in licensing the Gold Book for commercial use, please contact the IUPAC Executive Director at executivedirector@iupac.org .
Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-06-21T23:06:05+00:00